Last night, demonstrators along the Embarcadero in the Occupy San Francisco movement faced off with police clad in riot gear. An organizer shouted to demonstrators, “”These are the magic words. Everybody repeat after me: I have the right to remain silent.” The group shouted back: “I have the right to remain silent.” She continued: “I want to see a lawyer.” They responded: “I want to see a lawyer.” No arrests were made…

Across the Bay, the Occupy Oakland general assembly voted for a general strike on November 2nd with a total count of 1484 “yeahs” out of 1607 votes. By 7pm last night, the fence around Frank Ogawa Plaza keeping protesters out had been torn down, with protesters chanting, “Whose park? Our park!” Police kept their distance…

Proving nothing is like a good vote, the Oakland School Board voted a little bit themselves last night – specifically, voting to close down 5 Oakland schools. This move is said to save 2 million dollars. A crowd of 500 parents, teachers, and children who were present were not happy, to say the least, when the 5-2 vote came in. One speaker made reference to Oakland Unified taking a bullet to the head, which led Oakland board members to ask if that was a threat. Goodbye Lakeview, Lazear, Marshall, Maxwell Park, and Santa Fe elementary schools…

But all is not woe in the Oakland Unified School District, because at some schools, students are provided free breakfasts in their classrooms. Well, okay there’s some woe … a lot of woe… because a main reason students are fed in school is because, otherwise, they might not be fed at all. 70 percent of public school students in Oakland now qualify for free or reduced-priced meals at school…

In another attempt at good news, let’s go to California prisons. Hundreds of California inmates locked in segregation units, such as those held for decades at Pelican Bay State Prison’s windowless Security Housing Unit, might have their big break and the opportunity to go to more comfortable prison cells. Currently, officials from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation are planning to review the files of every prisoner.